The Radford University women’s cross-country team placed second and the men’s team finished third in the Big South Championships Friday afternoon, but the teams still returned to Radford with a bunch of awards.
The squads picked up two All-Academic awards, a Scholar Athlete of the Year award, a women’s Coach of the Year award, four all-conference team selections, and three new all-time bests in the Highlander record books.
The first of the RU awards came when Annsley Eckert was named the Big South Scholar Athlete of the Year. She has maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA as a nursing major all four years in Radford despite the many challenges of her academic work and her sports activities and the unique situations presented by the pandemic.
“Eckert winning the scholar athlete of the year award embodies what our program is about,” said head coach Sam Bradley. “Her diligence in the classroom combined with her attitude at practice and racing demonstrate what she is all about. We are so incredibly impressed by Annsley and everything she has brought to our program.”
Junior Joe Limo was named to the Big South All-Academic Team from the RU men’s team on the strength of his 3.74 GPA in RU’s nursing program.
Three RU runners from the women’s squad placed in the top 10 to pace the Highlanders’ second-place finish. Rachel Werking posted the best time of the day for Radford at 17:28.8, a new program all-time record for the 5k. Rachel Millirons placed fifth for the Highlanders with a personal best time of 17:44.2, which left her fourth all-time in the Highlander record book. Freshman Chloe Wellings finished tenth with a time of 18:08.2, sixth-fastest time in program history.
Because they finished in the top-12, Werking, Millirons, and Wellings were all named to the Big South All-Conference Team.
Rounding out the first five finishers for the day for the RU women were MegAnne Gilmore and Eckert, who placed 19th and 20th respectively. MacKenzie Gardner (23rd), Kayland Bond (24th), Maddie Yancey (26th), Savannah Hoff (29th), and Abby Seigel (32nd) all competed in the championship race and all finished in the front half of the pack.
“The women ran with such passion and confidence today.” Bradley said. “They have consistently been incredible this year, and this performance was a demonstration of how much they’ve committed to our plan from day one. We couldn’t be prouder of how they performed today, and we continue to keep edging closer to the top of the conference. It was our best result since 1990, and we are so incredibly happy with how things are progressing.”
Bus Baker’s 11th-place finish led the Radford men to their third-place finish. Baker’s top-12 placement earned him Big South All-Conference Team honors. The freshman duo of Nate Jennings (18th) and Luke Richards (22nd) was the next highest finishing pair. Peyton Hurd (25th) was also a top-placing Highlander, and the top five scorers for Radford were rounded out by another freshman, Joshua Daggett (27th).
Also competing in the championship race were Limo (28th), Alejo Cobos (37th), Sam Sikora (53rd), and Adam Downs (56th).
“The men had another stellar day,” said Bradley. “We asked them to be bold and press in a field of hugely talented guys from around the conference. With the youth we have in our team, they are set up for more success in the years to come, and like the women, they had one of the best finishes since 1990.”
Following the race and the strong performance of the women’s team, Bradley was named the Women’s Coach of the Year by the Big South in just his third year at Radford. He is the first coach from Radford to win the honor since Tom Morris was named the men’s Coach of the Year in 1997.
The Big South Championships marks the end of a successful season for Radford. The Highlanders competed in three meets during the season, including one meet at home for the first time in over two decades.
Eckert is the first Highlander to win the Scholar Athlete of the Year since Teresa Williamson won it in 2014. The second-place finish for the women was their highest finish since they won the Big South Championship in 1990. The men’s third-place finish was their best performance in the league championships since 2016.
